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Senior Scientist, Molecular Pharmacology

South San Francisco, California, United States

 

Septerna is a biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, CA on a mission to develop life-changing medicines for patients with the vision to become the industry-leading G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-focused drug discovery company. The company’s Native Complex Platform™ recapitulates GPCRs with their native structure, function, and dynamics outside of the cellular context. This approach enables novel access to modern structural and screening technologies used in industrial-scale drug discovery for the entire class of GPCRs. Septerna has an emerging pipeline of GPCR-targeted small molecule programs with potential for growth to target many GPCRs that have been undruggable and unexploited to date.

We are excited to expand our multidisciplinary team of individuals focused on creating revolutionary medicines to address the unmet needs of patients. At Septerna we strive to embrace diversity of thought, expertise, and background through collaboration. To join our ambitious team, be prepared to bring your real self to work every day; grow and learn from a talented team of drug hunters, scientists, and business professionals; and contribute your passion, creativity, and energy to accomplish our mission. We share a fearless pursuit of ground-breaking innovations and cultivate an environment where our employees succeed by learning from each other and working as a team.

We are committed to the development of meaningful therapeutics for patients with indications of high unmet need. This is a tremendous opportunity to work with talented individuals on the frontlines of therapeutic discovery and development. You will directly help move therapies through preclinical research, positioning them for success in the clinic. The successful candidate will add their passion, unique talents, and expertise to a dynamic team motivated to discover new disease-modifying therapeutics for patients in a fast-paced environment.

For more information see: www.septerna.com.

The Role:

Septerna is seeking an innovative technical assay scientist to join our team to advance our small molecule drug discovery programs. The successful candidate will leverage their cellular biology, molecular biology, pharmacology and assay development expertise to support our current, and implement our future, GPCR assay suite.  Working among a team of GPCR pharmacologists, you will develop and deploy workflows for identification, characterization and optimization of chemical matter for medicine development.  You’ll collaborate closely with Medicinal Chemistry, Protein Biology, and Disease Biology teams and manage external CRO partners.  Acting as a pharmacology subject matter expert you will play an integral role in Project Teams to build transformative therapeutics for patients as we advance our pipeline towards the clinic.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in a relevant field with at least 2–3 years post-graduation experience.  Industry experience in drug discovery and familiarity with automation and liquid handling platforms used in HTS is preferred. 

Requirements

  • Design, develop, and execute GPCR assays with a focus on assay fitness and robustness for large-scale small molecule high-throughput screening (HTS) applications
  • Manage external CROs to advance discovery programs
  • Identify and establish key post-screen cellular, biochemical and biophysical assays to support hit-to-lead through candidate selection
  • Pharmacology point of contact responsible for GPCR mechanism-of-action studies including functional binding constants, quantification of agonist efficacy, and the use of radiometric assays.
  • Deep technical expertise in the cellular and molecular biology disciplines, with experience of bespoke assay development and application for small molecule characterization. Experience supporting structure-activity relationship (SAR) campaigns is preferred.
  • Hands-on experience in genetic engineering, viral tools, and a variety of second messenger, nucleic acid and protein-based methods as assay readouts
  • Proficiency in data analysis tools such as GraphPad Prism, CDD, Vortex/Dotmatix
  • Experience with analysis and interpretation of dose-response, kinetic, and mechanism-of-action data to support hit triage and lead optimization.

The anticipated salary range for candidates who will work in South San Francisco, CA is $140,000 - $150,000. Individual pay may vary based on additional factors, including, and without limitation, job-related skills, experience, work location and relevant education or training. Septerna's compensation package also includes benefits, stock options, and annual target bonus for full-time positions.

 

We are an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status. 

Note to Employment Agencies: Please do not forward any agency resumes. The company will not be responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited.

 

 

 
Note to Employment Agencies: Please do not forward any agency resumes. The company will not be responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited.  We are an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.  Septerna participates in the E-Verify program.  California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice For Job Applicants.  If you are a California resident, click here for our CCPA Notice.

 

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